10:19 am, March 28, 2023
Ferrari and Volkswagen have both welcomed a landmark EU ruling which will allow cars running on e-fuels to be exempt from its ban on new ICE vehicles.
Car Dealer reported yesterday (March 28) that the bloc had agreed to amend the terms of its upcoming ban, following complaints by Germany and Italy.
The two nations previously forced a key vote on the regulations to be abandoned in February, due to demands over e-fuels.
Now, two of the countries’ biggest manufacturers have spoken out in favour of the change, which will allow them to continue selling ICE cars in Europe after 2035.
Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna told Reuters that the move was ‘good news’ for the Italian brand but insisted it would not majorly change the firm’s strategy.
‘The good news for us as a company is that on top of electric cars, we’ll also be able to go on with our internal combustion engines ones. ‘This decision is very interesting for us because it allows ICEs to go beyond 2036,’ he said.
‘We don’t want to tell clients which car to use. We want to make three kinds of propulsion available for them — hybrid, electric and ICE — and they will choose.’
The regulations in question require firms to make a 100 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions from new vehicles – effectively banning new ICE sales by 2035.
The news about e-fuels follows an announcement that manufacturers which register fewer than 1,000 cars annually will also be exempt from the ban.
That will allow the likes of Morgan, Caterham and BAC to continue exporting their vehicles in Europe.
In Germany, Porsche and owners Volkswagen Group were among the biggest drivers behind the inclusion of a clause on e-fuels.
The sports car brand recently invested in a state-of-the art synthetic fuel site in Chile, with production already underway.
Volkswagen Group have described e-fuels as an ‘interesting’ option going forward.
A spokesman said: ‘We see e-fuels as a useful addition to the existing fleet of combustion engines and for special applications.
